From the calendar, 2027.

Monday, June 28

Trans. Rel. Ven. Cyrus and John

Strict fastNo meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil.

Appointed to be read.

At the
1. EpistleRomans 2:28–3:18
2. GospelMatthew 6:31–34, 7:9–11

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Epistle.

Romans 2:28–3:18

2 min read

28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;

29but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.

3:1What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?

2Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

3For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?

4Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: 'That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.'

5But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)

6Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?

7For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

8And why not say, 'Let us do evil that good may come'?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

9What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.

10As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one;

11There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.

12They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.'

13'Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit'; 'The poison of asps is under their lips';

14'Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.'

15'Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16Destruction and misery are in their ways;

17And the way of peace they have not known.'

18'There is no fear of God before their eyes.'

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Gospel.

Matthew 6:31–34, 7:9–11

1 min read

31'Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

32For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

7:9Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

10Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

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In remembrance.

Trans. Rel. Ven. Cyrus and JohnRead the life

They are counted among the Unmercenary Physicians. For their lives, see January 31.

St. Paul the Physician, of Corinth

Sergius and Herman, Wonderworkers of ValaamRead the life

After helping to establish Orthodoxy among the Karelian Finns, they founded the famous Valaam Monastery on Lake Ladoga in northern Russia. Both reposed in the same year.

Synaxis of the Icon of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos "Of the Three Hands"Read the life

Saint John of Damascus (December 4), the great defender of Orthodoxy against the iconoclasts, was falsely accused of plotting against the Caliph of Damascus through the intrigues of the iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian (reigned 717-741). The Caliph ordered St John’s hand to be cut off for his suspected treachery. The saint asked for the severed hand, and passed the night praying fervently for aid before an icon of the most holy Theotokos. Waking in the morning, he found his hand miraculously restored, with only a scar around the wrist where it had been completely severed. In thanksgiving, St John had a silver hand mounted on the icon. When he became a monk in the monastery of St Sabbas in the Holy Land, he took the icon with him. It remained there until it was given to St Sabbas (Sava) of Serbia (January 14), who brought it to Serbia.

Read the full life

Our Holy Father Sennuphius the Standard-Bearer (4th c.)Read the life

“A great ascetic and wonderworker of the Egyptian desert, he was a contemporary of Patriarch Theophilus and the Emperor Theodosius the Great. He is called ‘the Standard-Bearer’ because he once helped the Emperor Theodosius to gain a victory over enemy forces by his prayers. When the Emperor summoned him to Constantinople, he replied that he was unable to go, but sent his torn and patched monastic habit and his staff. Going out to battle, the Emperor put on Sennuphius’s habit and carried his staff in his hand, and returned victorious from the battle.” (Prologue)

Further.

The Library

The Fathers, the services and the lives of the saints.

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Ask a question about a passage. Answers cite their sources.

What this is.

The Scripture the Orthodox Church reads each day, the saints it remembers, and a study aid that answers from Scripture and the Fathers and shows its sources.

Divine Liturgy. The Church's main service, at which Holy Communion is given. Its Epistle and Gospel are what most people mean by the day's readings.

Matins. The morning service of praise. On Sundays and feasts it has a Gospel of its own.

Vespers. The evening service. The Church's day begins at sunset, so a feast's Vespers is served the evening before.

Hours. Short services of psalms and prayer at set times of the day: the First, Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours.

Tone. The hymns of the week are sung in one of eight tones, or melodies, which follow each other week by week.

New Calendar. Fixed feasts are kept on the civil date, as in the OCA and the Antiochian Archdiocese. Churches on the Old Calendar keep them 13 days later. Pascha is the same for both.